Page 19 of Faerie Marked

“Three: You cannot eat garlic. Garlic will break the potion’s effect and reveal you. Four: Do not under any circumstances touch a quartz crystal of any kind. Quartz is a magical stone which will siphon the spell away from you, revealing your true nature. Five: Don’t look at your own reflection in a mirror or let anybody see your reflection in a mirror after sundown—the spell will break and reveal your true nature.”

My head spun. “I need to write these down.”

“No time. We’re done here.” Barbara wiped her hands on the front of her pants. “You’ll remember the rules or else learn the hard way when you break ’em. I’ve got nothing more for you. You have what you need and I have what I need.”

I hated to ask what it was I’d given her, knowing I wouldn’t like the answer. If she even bothered to tell me.

“Good luck with everything, kiddo,” she said, her voice returning to normal. She attempted a smile once more. This time wasn’t any better than the first. “I’ll be seeing you again soon. You can see yourself out.”

The smoke spun around us in a cloud I could not wave away. It swirled closer and closer until I could feel the touch of it on my skin, ushering me to the door like a thousand invisible fingers. The case weighed heavily in my hand and I wasn’t sure when I’d grabbed it.

Wasn’t sure I had in the first place.

“Thank you,” I tried to say. “For helping me.”

Thank me when you pay up, girl.

Her voice sounded inside my head. Barbara’s cackle followed me outside and sent chills down my spine. The door closed behind me and I wondered what kind of deal with the devil I had just made.

I still didn’t feel any evidence of a ward as I walked through the forest, gripping the case tightly to my midsection. Nothing to indicate Barbara had any kind of magical protection around her place at all, and I wondered if she’d made the whole thing up to fool me. To trick me into thinking I’d done something special.

There was no one on the street when I got back to my car. I placed the case on the front seat, pausing for a moment to stare at the closed lid, thinking of the vials inside. Filled with black liquid.

Was I really going to have to drink those? My head still spiraled, dizzy, the effects of her smoke keeping me in a thrall through the rest of my drive away from Everly Lane. Away from the house and the witch and the nightmares I knew she inspired. For a good reason.

Another late night for me, I snuck up the stairs with Uncle William’s snoring echoing off the walls. Shoot, he’d gotten home ahead of me. Good thing he slept heavily after a drinking spree. It was a point in my favor.

Making sure to move as quietly as possible, I placed the box with the vials under my bed and then shoved clothes in front to hide it from view, then straightened out the dust ruffle.

Tuesday was coming faster than I was ready for. I’d need to pack and be gone before anyone knew.

The information in my welcome email gave me a physical address for the campus. When I typed it into my phone, it showed ten hours north. Massachusetts wasn’t too far but still a long drive.

Better for me to be far away when they discovered I was gone.

I couldn’t take my own car or Uncle Will would be able to track me. He kept close track of my movements and I wouldn’t put it past him to have some sort of GPS device enabled. It also meant the cell phone would have to go.

What to bring and what to leave behind? Pausing, I scratched my head, exhaustion weighing me down until I sank to the floor, legs folding underneath me. My chest ached at the thought of leaving Uncle William. He’d been there for me since my father’s death, making sure I lacked for nothing.

Until he sold you out to the Grimaldis,a nasty voice in my head reminded me.Until he used you to get ahead, without thinking of your feelings.

I sighed, dropping my chin into my hands. Too much to think about. And Barbara had all but wrung me out with the visit. How long would I need to recover from meeting her? Still…

“I did it,” I whispered out loud. Although I wasn’t sure why or who I spoke to. Maybe Elfwaite, though she was too far away to hear me. “I did it and I’m on my way out.” The word drew a giggle, ending with a snort.

I couldn’t think about what Uncle Will would do when he discovered I had run away. Or how the rest of the pack might suffer at the hands of the Grimaldi alpha deprived of his prize.

My breast throbbed in remembrance of his rough handling and I shuddered.

All I had to do was get to the school and keep my head down. Get through the selection process without anyone realizing I was really a werewolf shifter—the Fae’s sworn enemy—and make it until graduation.

All I had to do was survive without my fated mate hunting and finding me.

8

While I stared at the Tuesday morning sun rising in the sky, I wanted to puke with the thought of what I had to do next.

I had a plan. My plan would break the heart of the man who’d raised me. Would put distance between me and the only home I’d ever known. But at least I knew what had to be done. Now all I had to do was put my plan into motion.

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